


Meet Spider-Man

by Eowima



Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: (eventually) - Freeform, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Medical, F/M, Gen, Identity Reveal, MJ is in her third year of med school, and alright maybe she likes him just a little too, especially when she keeps meeting him again and again, especially when she realizes he might like her a little too, she gets a little curious, when she meets the one and only Spider-Man
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:40:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25570717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eowima/pseuds/Eowima
Summary: The first time it happens, Michelle Jones is in her third year of med school, right in the first week of her rotation in the Emergency Room. She’s standing outside the entrance, enjoying her first, and probably only, 45-second break of the night, when the one and only Spider-Man drops down next to her, making her jump in surprise.A Medical AU
Relationships: Michelle Jones/Peter Parker
Comments: 82
Kudos: 83





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! :D  
> So I had to spend a few days in the hospital last week, and came up with this little idea while I was there. Consider this fic a love letter to all the amazing people who took care of me then, and to all the amazing people working in medical fields in general, because you guys rock ♥

**Chapter 1**

The first time it happens, Michelle Jones is in her third year of med school, right in the first week of her rotation in the Emergency Room. She’s standing outside the entrance, enjoying her first, and probably only, 45-second break of the night, when the one and only Spider-Man drops down next to her, making her jump in surprise.

It’s 3 in the morning, the cloudy September sky is orange from the city’s lights above her head, a chilly wind messing with the bun on top of her head. They haven’t had an arrival in ten good minutes, but received a call from an incoming ambulance two minutes ago. Michelle is the lucky one they sent out there to wait for them, and she’s glad because that means a few moments of relative _quiet_.

Or, at least she _was_ glad, up until a crazy guy dressed up in a skintight red and blue suit dropped next to her, scaring the shit out of her.

The first thing she notices is that he’s not very tall. She’s actually taller than him, which in retrospective isn’t that uncommon since she’s pretty tall herself, but somehow it still surprises her.

The second thing she notices – well, more of a simultaneous realization really – is that he’s holding a woman in his arms.

Her deeply observant and analytical brain switches on instantly at that, taking in the scene. It’s a woman, probably in her late 20s, Caucasian, conscious and breathing. She’s wearing a pink bathrobe, that’s apparently slipped during whatever it is that Spider-Man does, uncovering what MJ immediately guesses are signs of physical abuse. Oh damn it, she’s jumping to conclusion again, she needs to stop doing that – or at least be careful with it. She’s been told multiple times her mind conclusions can cloud her judgment.

It’s tough to go against something she’s been doing her whole life – especially since she’s almost always right –, but she’s working on it.

She takes a step forward, readjusting her mask over her nose and mouth. Spider-Man slowly settles the woman down on her feet and Michelle moves to meet her eyes, reassuring her in what she likes to think as her doctor voice. It didn’t come easily to her, being around other people so much and actually having to actively interact with them, but she thinks she’s getting the hang of it. The woman seems to be in shock, her cheeks are very pale, her breathing rapid, so Michelle moves her gaze up to meet the white eyes of Spider-Man.

She’s surprised by how fast he gives her the information she needs before she can even ask, like he knew exactly what she was about to say. In retrospective, it makes sense, the guy’s been patrolling the city for years, of course he’d know how to handle these types of situations. Still, it’s not something you read about him in the press. It’s a pity. Michelle thinks it’s definitely more interesting to know this about him rather than know how many cars he can carry or how he’s actually contributing to the rising numbers of criminals in the city – she hates the Daily Bugle but it’s hard to avoid their stupid head titles.

“Bruised ribs, left wrist is not in good shape and I’m pretty sure her left collarbone is broken as well.”

“Thanks.” This gives her the information she needs to secure her hold around the woman’s waist, favoring her right side and arm, and she helps her take a few steps towards the entrance. The poor woman seems terrified, but she leans into her all the same. Michelle presses a button to call for her colleagues, requesting a wheelchair because for now they’re out of stretchers – life in the ER, right?

“Here’s her handbag, I thought it would be useful.”

Michelle grabs the thing with her free hand, nodding to him once before carefully helping the woman down on one of the chairs next to the ER entrance. She kneels in front of her, reassuring her in a calming voice, setting the handbag next to her thigh. She hands her a surgical mask – she always keeps extra ones in her blouse – and helps her secure it on her face. She can feel Spider-Man hovering above her, and when she stands up she’s surprised to see him a lot closer than she thought. She meets his eyes and he takes a step back, one of his hands moving up to apparently scratch the back of his neck.

“All good?” he asks hesitantly, and Michelle nods again. She’s not entirely sure what she’s supposed to do or say – she’s answered ambulance’s calls before, but superhero ones? Nope, that’s new – and apparently he isn’t either. She watches as he hesitates for a second, then smiles behind her mask when he kneels in front of the woman to meet her eyes. “Hope you feel better soon,” he tells her in a quiet voice. “Take care of yourself okay?” She sniffles an answer and Spider-Man nods once, before springing to his feet and taking a few steps back, apparently ready to go.

It makes Michelle’s heart do a weird thing in her chest, making her feel something she does not entirely understand, maybe like she doesn’t want to see him go just yet? It’s weird. You don’t meet superheroes every day, and even without being a fervent fan of that whole concept, she must admit Spider-Man is the one that she tolerates the best. Even more so now that she’s seen him interact with the injured woman next to her. It doesn’t take a genius to know he’s one of the good guy, no matter what the Daily Bugle says.

“What did you do to her?” she calls after him, watching as he stills for a second before slowly spinning on his heels to face her again.

“Nothing!” he exclaims, throwing both of his hands up in the air, and Michelle thinks he definitely sounds offended. “I heard cries, saw her being cornered by two guys and I –”

“Chill man, I’m messing with you,” she cuts him with a smirk behind her mask. “Thanks for bringing her in, we’ll take care of her.”

“Oh, right. Thanks,” he nods a little awkwardly, and Michelle isn’t sure what prompts her to say what she says next.

“Wanna lose the mask maybe?” she asks bluntly, before biting her lower lip, surprised by her own words. She really has no idea what she’s doing right now. Granted, she’s always been curious about the guy, but still. She can tell from the hesitating tilt of his head that he’s surprised too. She wonders if he’s smiling or frowning behind that mask of his.

“You know I can’t do that,” he tells her softly, his voice almost drowned by the incoming ambulance. “Besides, I would never ask _you_ to take off _your_ mask,” he adds after a second, nodding to her surgical mask, and she’s pretty sure she can hear amusement in his voice now.

“Meh, worth a try,” she retorts cheekily with half-a-shrug, biting down her smile when she hears him bark a laugh at that. The ambulance is pulling over now, and she’s needed elsewhere, so she waves him off, a little surprised by her own demeanor around the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. “See you around, Spidey.”

“Ha, yes, see you around um, lady!”

She scoffs at his choice of words, and hears him chuckle again despite the fact that he’s already swinging away. The bright lights of the ambulance snap her back to reality and she goes back into work mode. She doesn’t think about the encounter for the rest of the night, too busy dealing with all the tasks she’s assigned throughout her shift. It’s only when she’s back home, after she took a well deserved shower and found her way into her very comfy bed, that she allows herself to reflect back on what happened.

She laughs to herself anticipating her little sister’s reaction. Gayle’s always gushing about how wonderful Spider-Man is, so knowing that her sister’s met him? Michelle already knows she’s gonna have to lower her phone’s sound settings to the minimum if she wants to have functioning ears after the call. Gayle’s probably on her way to class right now, so she’ll have to wait though. Her roommate Betty is working day shift this week, and she was gone before Michelle got back, so she’ll have to wait too.

It feels weird to keep this to herself. Michelle isn’t one to fangirl about anything, but somehow she feels that this might be the closest she could get to actually do. She reasons that it probably is because the encounter went so fast and also how decent the guy was, too. She shouldn’t expect less of him though, after all he is the superhero one, right? She met a superhero today. She messed with him a little, made him laugh too. Oh wow, she also asked him to remove his mask, what was _that_? That’s when it strikes her. Was she flirting with him just a little?

Yeah no that wasn’t it at all. It was 3 in the morning, that wasn’t it at all.

Michelle muffles a yawn in her pillow, checking the time, blinking her tired eyes away. She sets her phone to fly mode and settles in her favorite position. She’s exhausted. Nights in the ER are hard – especially when they’re full like tonight was. Two more nights and then she’s switching to days. She can’t wait. Spider-Man called her ‘lady’ tonight. Ha, what a doofus. She can’t believe she asked him to remove his mask.

That’s okay though, it’s not as if she’s gonna see him again anyway, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize if you spot some inaccuracies as far as how the medical system or med schools work, I'm not from the US and am also not familiar at all with medical stuff, so yeah xD Also, ignore the title, I couldn't come up with one, it might change eventually if I encounter a divine intervention or something haha I decided to go with shorter chapters like in Peter Parker's Plan because that's nice I think
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this! :D


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So it turns out Michelle does see Spider-Man again. Multiple times, actually.  
> The second time is another coincidence. She’s heading to her first day shift in the ER, and he’s just dropped someone off there. He was apparently about to swing away, but he freezes in his steps when he sees her, before waving in her direction.  
> “Hey, I remember you,” he says in a tired, albeit joyful voice, bouncing towards her. “How’s that lady I dropped off the other night – what was her name again, um, Amy?”  
> Michelle is thankful she’s already put her mask on, because her cheeks are feeling a little hot right now, for whatever reason.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! :D  
> Hope you enjoy this second chapter! Thanks for all the kudos and comments on the first one, you guys are the best ♥

**Chapter 2**

So it turns out Michelle does see Spider-Man again. Multiple times, actually.

The second time is another coincidence. She’s heading to her first day shift in the ER, and he’s just dropped someone off there. He was apparently about to swing away, but he freezes in his steps when he sees her, before waving in her direction.

“Hey, I remember you,” he says in a tired, albeit joyful voice, bouncing towards her. “How’s that lady I dropped off the other night – what was her name again, um, Amy?”

Michelle is thankful she’s already put her mask on, because her cheeks are feeling a little hot right now, for whatever reason. He remembers her, and the patient he brought in – it’s been five days, she admits it: she is surprised. “Can’t tell you much,” she says, sliding her hands in the pockets of her jeans with a shrug. “You know, a little something called doctor/patient confidentiality?”

“Oh, right, yeah sorry,” he nods, stopping in front of her, and now they’re just standing there in the middle of the sidewalk and Michelle feels awkward. She’s pretty sure she can hear a smile in his voice though – which is kind of nice.

“But you know, last time I heard from her she was doing pretty well,” she adds with another shrug, and she’s a little too aware of how her heart seems to be pounding in her chest – which is ridiculous.

“That’s cool,” he nods again, and this time she’s sure of it, he’s definitely smiling behind that mask of his. “Well, you know, thanks for telling me.”

“Thanks for bringing her in,” she retorts with yet another falsely casual shrug. She doesn’t feel casual at all. She feels ridiculous, and awkward, and her mouth is a very dry and she hates it. She will not get starstruck or start fangirling over stupid Spider-Man because that’s just _dumb_.

“That’s my job,” he says back, winking one of his mechanical white eyes, and _really_? Screw that guy. “Anyway, gotta go, hope you have a nice day saving people!” And just like that he’s off, leaving her kind of conflicted for a few seconds, before she forces herself to move along with her day. It’s another busy day in the Emergency Room, and she’s glad because she doesn’t get a minute to think.

When she gets back home that night and decides to bring up the subject while Betty and her are munching on take-out, she regrets it instantly. Her friend starts laughing and messing with her for having ‘a crush on Spidey’ and really that’s just, _ugh_. She goes to bed that night a little pissed at the superhero because he was so nice both time she saw him and made her confused, but mostly pissed at herself because she’s being ridiculous. She cannot and will _not_ have a crush on a superhero, that’s just stupid, she’s not sixteen anymore, she’s a grown ass woman now.

She makes herself the promise to stop acting like a schoolgirl next time she sees him – _if_ she ever sees him again, that is.

And she does – and yeah, she kind of fails to keep her own promise when it happens. Three days later, late afternoon, she’s on admission duty – they’re trying this new filtering system where one of them stands outside and redirects people in the correct service, because most days they’re drowning in patients, which sucks. He drops down in front of her like the first time they met, carrying a teenager with what seems to be a broken arm. The kid’s arm has been wrapped in a scarf and he is smiling, his brown eyes twinkling with amazement – probably from swinging with Spider-Man, if Michelle had to guess. She asks him questions, which he answers pretty enthusiastically for someone with a broken arm, telling her that her mom works at this hospital too. She has him wait on the side while they get him a wheelchair and she contacts his mom, who’s working as a nurse in pediatrics.

Spider-Man keeps him company while he waits, and Michelle tries not to pay attention to how sweet he seems to be with the kid – because that’s kind of distracting. She can see from the boy’s demeanor that he’s in pain, but discussing with the superhero seems to have a calming effect on him, she thinks. It’s sweet. She tries not to think too much about it.

When one of her colleagues wheels the kid inside the ER, Michelle smiles under her mask as Spider-Man waves him off. “Take care Miles, no more front flips okay?”

“Yeah okay!” Miles laughs, waving back with his good arm.

Michelle shakes her head in amusement, then meets the superhero’s eyes. He’s standing with both hands on his hips, and he looks kind of ridiculous, she thinks. “Keeping kids out of trouble since 2014,” he tells her in what seems to be a very self-satisfied voice, and she doesn’t even try to hide her roll of eyes at that. Her reaction makes him chuckle, and he bounces on his feet a couple of times before saying: “Anyway, it was nice seeing you again–” he cuts himself, narrowing his eyes at the name tag on her scrubs “–Dr Jones!”

She fights the urge to tell him that she’s not a doctor yet and just nods, ignoring the heat creeping up her neck and cheeks for whatever reason. He waves at her with one last ‘see ya!’ then swings away, and just like the two previous times he leaves her with a head full of thoughts. Being on admission duty is kind of boring, and this time she gets time to think – and comes up with an explanation as to _why_ she’s feeling the way she does around him.

Spider-Man’s been around for more than 10 years now. He’s like a landmark of the city, the same way the Empire State Building or the Statue of Liberty are. Tourists come to New York to catch a glimpse of him swinging around Manhattan. There are city sighting bus companies that ensure at least one Spider-Man sighting if you buy a ticket. Tourists love him, and New Yorkers do, too – apart from the Daily Bugle, the rest of the press is rather clement with him.

So he’s famous. And unlike most superheroes around, he’s famous for the good reasons. He’s not famous because he used to sell weapons and almost destroyed the Earth once or twice, or because he’s a freaking god, or because he turns into a giant green monster when he’s upset. He’s famous because he’s been protecting his city for the last 10 years, because he’s looking out for the little guy, because he’s one of _them_. Nobody knows who Spider-Man really is, and the amazing thing is, he could be anyone.

Michelle isn’t a big fan of superheroes. She finds the concept weird and problematic, what happened in Sokovia a few years back being a good example of _why_. But once again, Spider-Man is different. And from meeting him three times in the last ten days, she now knows that he’s caring, and sweet. He remembers the names of the people he saves. He hangs out with kids to distract them when they’re hurt. He thanked her for taking care of the woman he brought the other night, something that most people never do – being taken for granted is kind of a thing when you work in medical fields.

He remembers _her_ , and even took the time to learn her name.

It makes sense that she would feel a little sheepish and kind of giddy around him. He’s a good person, who shows appreciation for what she does, who seems selfless and ready to do anything if it means helping out someone. Michelle chose to be a doctor because she wanted to make a difference, because she wanted to _help people_. Spider-Man kind of is the epitome for that.

It definitely makes sense for her to like him.

_Like_ as in, admire what he does, of course.

It takes her a few days to come to terms with that explanation – a small part of her feeling inadequate for some reason, but she figures that’s just the freaking patriarchy getting inside her head once again. It’s a constant struggle that she’s adamant to keep fighting as long as she needs to. In any case, she doesn’t see him again for another week, although she does hear about him. Apparently he’s been dropping more and more people in the ER, at least one or two a day, which is unusual according to Michelle’s colleagues.

After taking care of three of those persons, Michelle has an ongoing theory – one that kind of makes him even nicer than she thought. He’s bringing in people with health insurances that wouldn’t cover ambulance rides. At least that’s the thing all of them have in common, from what she’s gathered from her examination and questioning. Guy’s even more decent than what he appears to be. It could just be a coincidence, of course, but somehow she doubts it. It’s kind of making her heart swell in her chest when she thinks too much about it.

Then on her second to last day of rotation in the ER, one of her fellow classmates, Cindy Moon, drops by while she’s finishing a physical exam. Ignoring her, Michelle wraps up her exam, telling the person to make themselves comfortable and to not hesitate to call if there’s anything, then heads out of the room, squeezing some hydro-alcoholic gel on her hands. “’Sup Cindy,” she deadpans as she does, meeting her eyes with a blank expression.

“Spider-Man dropped by again,” her friend informs her lightly, following her out of the ward and into the break room.

Michelle hasn’t taken a break since she’s arrived this morning and it’s already 3 pm. Her legs and back are kind of killing her right now. She grabs a bottle of water, slides down her mask and takes a large gulp, before sighing forcefully. “So?” she retorts like she doesn’t care, and at the same time internally ponders over if sitting is a good idea or not. That would be taking the risk to not be able to stand back up ever again, and she still has another five hours in front of her, so she settles for just leaning on the counter.

“ _So_ ,” Cindy says, leaning next to her, and she can hear the curious smile in her voice, “he was nice and all, but right before he left he _said…”_

“You know how I feel about dramatic pauses,” Michelle says with a sigh when she doesn’t finish her sentence right away, “they’re worthless of my time.”

“Alright, alright,” her friend laughs, raising her hands in front of her, “he said ‘Say hello to Dr Jones for me’ or something like that, so since there aren’t any _Dr Jones_ around here, I figured it might be _you_.” Michelle can feel Cindy’s curious eyes on her but as she doesn’t say anything to that, her friend continues, her voice filled with amusement: “Is there anything you’re not sharing with the class, _Dr Jones_?”

“ _Ugh_ , nothing, shut up,” Michelle sighs, downing the rest of her water before throwing her bottle in the trashcan. It makes Cindy laugh, and Michelle spends the rest of the afternoon dodging her friend’s questions and rolling her eyes at her suggestive eyebrow raise every time they cross path in the hallways or in the ward.

She tries not to think about _why_ Spider-Man took the time to ask someone else to say hi to her for him, because that’s just… distracting.

It does not help at all that right as the two of them get out of their shift at 8, Spider-Man is just dropping another patient. Michelle’s mind kind of freezes until Cindy nudges her with a smirk. “I’ll leave you two to it,” her friend tells her, and that actually helps her unfreeze. She scoffs, earning herself another chuckle from Cindy, and then she’s walking away with one last ridiculous pointed look and a wave. “See you tomorrow, _Dr Jones_.”

Michelle flips her off, ignoring the pounding of her stupid heart from seeing Spider-Man approaching from the corner of her eyes. It feels as if she’s back in high school all over again – which is definitely _not_ a period of her life that she misses. She turns to him, forcing herself to take the most unimpressed expression she can muster. He waves at her a little awkwardly, and she rolls her eyes a little, which makes him chuckle. “Hi,” she says, pretending to adjust her mask behind her ears. She has no idea what to say, or what to do.

“Hi,” he tells her, and it makes her heart do funny things in her chest to hear the smile in his voice. “Did you get my message?”

She raises an eyebrow at that, surprised. “Your message?”

His body language shifts at that, like he’s suddenly uncomfortable or very awkward for some reason, and she feels ill-at-ease instantly. Oh wow she hates this. “Um, you know, the one that I uh, you know, said hi?” he hesitates as she doesn’t answer, reaching to scratch the back of his neck with a very nervous chuckle. “Oh, um, I’m sorry, you find me creepy, I’m just, I mean, yeah, I’ll just, I’ll go now…” He turns away, shoulders flopping a little, and she feels her heart jump in her chest for no reason.

“Thank you,” she calls after him, before he gets the chance to swing away. He spins back to her, the mechanical eyes of his suit rounder than a few seconds ago, probably showing off his surprise if Michelle had to guess.

“Huh?”

“You know,” she shrugs, avoiding his eyes because she can feel her cheeks reddening. “Thanks for everything you do, all the people you bring us… helping out the poorest of them, that’s… that’s great.”

Spider-Man stays quiet for a few seconds, and she can feel his eyes roaming her face. “You caught that, huh?” he asks after a moment, and he kind of sounds like he’s impressed, but maybe she’s mistaking.

“I’m very observant,” she retorts, and it makes him chuckle.

“Well, you know,” he says, reaching up before letting his hand drop, probably to run a hand through his hair if she had to guess – _ha_ , if anything, maybe an indication that Spider-Man is not bold. “Right back at you. I’ve always admired what you guys do.”

Michelle just smiles at that, wondering if he can see it in her eyes or not. She hopes he does. She appreciates it, what he’s saying, but she doesn’t always know how to respond to compliments like these. She hesitates for a few seconds, not entirely sure what to say. She kind of wants to tell him that tomorrow’s the last day of her rotation in the ER, because then she’s in for three weeks in Surgery and she’s probably not gonna be able to see him again anytime soon. And alright, it kind of makes her heart flop in her chest when she thinks about it, for whatever reason.

She doesn’t get the chance to to tell him though.

Police sirens start blaring in the distance, and he excuses himself, saying he has to go, waving one last time before swinging away, and Michelle bites her lip, a little disappointed.

Funny how encounters work, right? Two weeks ago she’d never met this guy. He was just some random superhero that she would catch a glimpse of on her sister’s laptop or when her roommate watched the news. And now…

Now what? They’re not exactly on a first name basis or whatever. And she’s probably not gonna see him again because he doesn’t know she’s moving to Surgery – which is pretty stressful, by the way. It’s a pity though, she thinks. Especially since apparently he maybe kind of likes her too? Maybe. Who knows. Ugh, it doesn't matter anyway, she's probably never gonna see him again.

Although, that's what she thought after the first time she met him... 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Don’t worry,” she tells him with a smile that the kid can hopefully see in her eyes, “I’m sure he’s gonna be fine, it’s Spider-Man after all.”  
> “He helped my big brother down a tree once,” Enzo nods seriously, “you’re right, he’s so brave, he’s gonna be fine. That was a mean looking sir though…”  
> Poor kid is looking pretty distraught, and Michelle honestly gets it. Her own heart is still pounding in her chest from what just happened. She gently pats the bed next to his hand to catch his attention, nodding once when he meets her eyes. “You know what? I’m gonna finish my round, and then I’ll check the news on my phone to see if there’s anything about Spidey and come tell you, how does that sound?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, sorry it took so long, I was super busy and couldn't even write until today! This chapter was supposed to go farther than it does right now, but it was getting long so I cut it in half :D  
> Hope you enjoy it!! ♥

**Chapter 3**

So it turns out Michelle’s rotation in Surgery is as absorbing and exhausting as she thought it would be. The good thing is, the three weeks go by in flash, and she doesn’t have the time to think about how she hasn’t seen Spider-Man again since that day in the ER. She gets four days off after her rotation and spends it with her mother and sister in their old apartment in Queens. Then she starts her rotation in Obstetrics and Gynecology, which is another whole new level of fascinating. She helps to deliver her first baby, and that’s definitely one hell of a ride.

She doesn’t get a day off for Thanksgiving, but ends her rotation on December 4th, so she celebrates it with her family and Betty then. After that, she buries herself in her notebooks, because the new rotation she’s starting soon is probably the one that worries her the most. She knows she’s gonna be okay, she knows most people are more scared about working in the ER or in Obstetrics, but Pediatrics has always scared her a little. She’s never really been comfortable around children – even when she herself was one – so yes, she admits it, she’s pretty nervous.

The first two days see her very tensed and awkward, but by the third day she thinks she’s starting to get the hang of it. She avidly listens to anyone who offers any piece of advice, and arrives the morning of her fourth day very intent on nailing her morning round. She gets familiar with the few new cases of the night, and then she starts her round, making sure to take deep breaths before entering a room to make it seems like she’s relaxed even if she’s still a little tensed.

The first few days she had no idea how to talk to the kids, but now she feels better about it. She still feels a little uncomfortable around babies, but she’s getting there she thinks. Her round goes smoothly, and she’s on her second to last patient – Enzo, 8 years old, battling leukemia like a champ – when it happens.

She’s standing next to the kid’s bed with her back to the window, when a loud noise coming from outside makes them both jump out of their skins. Michelle spins to face the window, unconsciously placing herself in front of Enzo. They’re on the fourth floor, but the noise sounded like it came from a lot closer than if it had come from the ground, although she cannot really tell how she knows. She doesn’t have to ponder much anyway, because there’s another loud ‘bang’ and suddenly Spider-Man is there, sticking to the room’s large window.

Michelle hears Enzo behind her gasp in amazement, and watches in shock as Spider-Man’s eyes widen when they meet hers. Their gazes lock for barely a second before he spins around, swinging away, and she unconsciously takes a step forward to watch him go. That’s when she sees _him_.

She’s heard about this guy already – the Daily Bugle calls him the Green Goblin, apparently. A weirdo with a creepy mask flying around on some sort of glider, who’s been terrorizing parts of New York City for the last few weeks. She watches in horror as the man collides full force with Spider-Man, throwing him off course mid-swing and punching him hard in the face. She lets out a muffled gasp as Spider-Man plummets down to the pavement, then a relieved sigh that Enzo matches behind her when the superhero catches himself at the last second, swinging out of sight, the villain following him closely.

“Oh no, you think he’s gonna be okay?”

Michelle turns back to Enzo, making sure to have a composed expression before she meets the little boy’s gaze. “Don’t worry,” she tells him with a smile that the kid can hopefully see in her eyes, “I’m sure he’s gonna be fine, it’s Spider-Man after all.”

“He helped my big brother down a tree once,” Enzo nods seriously, “you’re right, he’s so brave, he’s gonna be fine. That was a mean looking sir though…”

Poor kid is looking pretty distraught, and Michelle honestly gets it. Her own heart is still pounding in her chest from what just happened. She gently pats the bed next to his small hand to catch his attention, nodding once when he meets her eyes. “You know what? I’m gonna finish my round, and then I’ll check the news on my phone to see if there’s anything about Spidey and come tell you, how does that sound?”

The kid’s big smile at that makes her heart skip a beat. “Sounds good,” he agrees with another serious nod, “thank you Dr Jones.”

“You’re welcome,” she smiles, heading for the door, “I’ll be right back.”

She spends the rest of her day between doing her assigned tasks, checking the different local news websites and updating Enzo every now and then. There’s nothing much about the fight until 10 am, and then that’s all everyone’s talking about for the next few hours – both on the news and in the hospital too, since it happened so close to it. No one seems to know how it ended though, and it’s not until 3 pm that there’s another Spider-Man sighting in Manhattan – helping out in a car crash caused by the snow that’s been falling on and off since the beginning of the week.

Enzo is deeply relieved to know he’s alright, and honestly Michelle is, too. He tells her all about how the superhero saved his brother two years ago, and she listens attentively, smiling at the kid’s enthusiasm. He’s especially proud to tell his mother about how he saw Spider-Man when she arrives, and Michelle leaves him in good hand as he tells her everything about the short but intense ‘meeting’.

She’s positively exhausted by the end of her shift. She makes her goodbye round, making sure everyone is fine, making stuffed animals talk here and there, rearranging pillows and checking IVs. She ends her round with Enzo, and when he tells her he’s glad she was there with him when they saw Spider-Man and the ‘bad guy’, her eyes kind of tingle just a little. She wishes him goodnight, then swings by the break room to grab her stuff, and then she’s off.

She steps outside, walking toward her bus stop a block away from the hospital. It’s not snowing right now, and it hasn’t really hold that much, but it’s still lingering in the air. The sidewalk is all scrunchy under the sole of her boots, and the wind is making her shiver despite her warm coat. She readjusts her pompom hat over her ears, sliding her mask off her face to do the same with her scarf, when Spider-Man drops from the sky in front of her, making her jump back and, yes alright, shriek a little too.

“Holy f–” she cuts herself, hand clamped over her pounding heart, and glares at the idiot instead. She cannot help but feel a deep pang of relief at his sight though. Reading about him is a lot less reassuring than seeing him in person, months after their last encounter. He’s raising an arm up, probably to scratch his neck like he apparently always does whenever he feels awkward – if she had to guess – but she doesn’t let him say anything. “You’ve gotta stop doing that!” she growls, and he at least has the decency to look down at his feet.

“Sorry, I’m sorry,” he stammers, rocking back and forth on his heels, and she lets out an annoyed sigh before looking him up and down. He doesn’t seem beaten up at all from his fight earlier this morning, which makes her wonder if he has any healing capacities or not. “Hi,” he tells her, and she has a hard time not rolling her eyes at that.

“Hi,” she retorts with a smirk and a shake of her head. She takes a sharp breath of cold air, her heartbeat settling down from her initial surprise, and realizes that for the first time since she’s met him, she’s not wearing a mask. Her heart may or may not do a small somersault at that realization, but she ignores it.

“So it’s been a while,” Spider-Man tells her, still rocking on his heels, and she wonders if he’s nervous or something. His body language kind of suggests that he _is_ , but ugh, with that mask of his it really is difficult to read him like she does everyone else. She doesn’t respond anything to that, keeping her face even as she thinks to herself it’s not fair that _he_ gets to see her face and she doesn’t. She pushes the pesky thought aside though, because she doesn’t really know _why_ she’s apparently so keen on knowing what he looks like – because it doesn’t make _any sense_.

The poor guy seems really awkward though, maybe hesitating over saying something she thinks, so she decides to take him out of his misery after a minute of anxious silence. “So what do you want?” she asks casually, noticing the way his shoulders go up at that.

“Wh-what?” he stammers again, and she takes a second to imagine his eyebrows shooting up in surprise. “What makes you think that I want anything?” Michelle raises one eyebrow at him, and she hears him chuckle breathlessly behind his mask. “Alright yeah I uh,” – he clears his throat, scratching the back of his neck again, and alright maybe it kind of actually _is_ easy to read him despite not seeing his face – “I have this plan that I wanted to tell about… I mean, I’m just, I’m just gonna tell you I guess…”

“Mhm?” she prods quietly, leaning forward just a little to encourage him to keep talking, and trying not to show how much his hesitation amuses her. She has no idea what he wants to say, but his very obvious nervousness might be a little endearing, _somehow_.

“Well um, you know this morning when I saw you I– well, I was a little um, _distracted_ , but I still noticed you, and that little boy too, and I saw… well, I saw his face light up from seeing me and I… I wanna do this again.” He’s staring at her now, his words flowing out of his mouth more easily with each second passing. “I figured you’re working in Pediatrics right now, so I thought I could probably just, talk to you about all this, see if we can, I don’t know, organize something maybe? Like a meet and greet or something? If it’s not any trouble, obviously.”

“Right, yes, that makes sense,” she nods slowly, ignoring the rush of _something_ flowing through her guts. It’s coming from her heart it seems, warm and glowing and comfortable, and she will _not_ try to make sense of it because she’s pretty sure that’s a really bad idea. He’s watching her closely, the mechanical eyes of his suit wide and attentive, and she can feel her own cheeks getting warm. She has to remind herself that everything she’s feeling makes _sense_ once again. It’s a very touching thing he’s asking, one that proves once again how much of a decent human being that guy is. “I’ll see what I can do. It’s…” she cuts herself and takes a deep breath, avoiding his eyes, “the kids are gonna love this.”

“You think so?” he asks, and she can hear the smile and hopefulness in his voice. “That’s… yeah, that’s cool, thank you.”

Michelle shrugs like it’s nothing, sliding her cold hands in the pockets of her coat. She can feel his eyes on her, and it’s making her very self-conscious. She hates how nervous she feels around him. She understands why though. The man is consistently demonstrating how inherently _good_ he is, how caring and understanding and selfless, and honestly that’s just _moving_. There, she’s said it. Well, she’s thought it at least. She’s not telling him all this, nope.

“It’s…” he hesitates when she looks up to meet his eyes, letting out a small nervous chuckle once again. “It’s the first time I see you without a mask.”

His voice is quiet and warm, a little hesitant too, and she can’t help herself. She tries to fight it, but she fails, looking down at her feet to at least attempt to hide the warm smile stretching her lips. She thinks to herself she’s being ridiculous again. Acting like a teenager in front of her crush or something. That’s what it feels like, and it’s making her stupid heart pound in her chest. She needs to get her shit back together, honestly. “Can’t say the same,” she retorts after a few seconds, looking up to meet his eyes with a smirk, and he laughs.

“Right, yeah,” he nods, reaching to smooth his hair – it might be a habit of his, she thinks, when he’s not in the suit. “Honestly I think it’s better that way though,” he adds with a shrug, “I’m pretty sure my nose is all red from the cold, and I’m sporting not one but two black eyes so yeah, not a very nice sight.”

“From the fight this morning?”

“Mhm, I took a pretty hard hit because of you,” he nods, and she hears the teasing in his voice but glares at him all the same. “Kidding!” he chuckles, raising his hands in front of him, and she shakes her head with a falsely annoyed sigh. “That one was definitely on me.”

“Did you get him?” Michelle asks before she can stop herself. The news never mentioned anything about arresting the flying creepy guy, but who knows.

“No, he got away,” he sighs with another shrug. “Don’t worry, I’ll get him next time.”

“Right.” They keep quiet after that, and she can’t help but notice it’s a comfortable silence this time. Like they’re growing more comfortable around each other. She doesn’t know what to make of all this, honestly. What is she doing? Standing in the middle of a sidewalk at 8:30pm, talking with a superhero. Is this her life now? She looks up to the dark sky, and it’s starting to snow again. She should be heading home. She was supposed to take the bus, but she’s pretty sure she’s just missed one.

“You’re heading back home?” Spider-Man asks her, and she wonders if reading mind is part of his enhancements or not. Probably not, she thinks, he’s just observant.

“Yeah, I just missed my bus I think,” she sighs, shrugging. “That’s okay, I can just walk I guess.”

“Do you want me to…” he hesitates once again as she meets his eyes. “I mean, I could, you know, swing you there, if you want?”

She’s shaking her head with a quiet laugh even before he’s done talking. “Yeah that’s very nice of you to offer, but no thank you, I don’t wanna break my neck or something.”

“I would never let you break your neck,” he retorts with obvious amusement, but she shakes her head again, not even trying to get rid of her smile.

“I figure yeah, but nope, I’m much more comfortable keeping my two feet on the ground, thanks,” she assures, and he nods once at that, and she’s pretty sure she can guess his smile even from under his mask. It must be a pretty wide one, she thinks. She manages to convince herself she’s only getting goosebumps on her arms because of the cold wind around them.

“Can I… walk you home then?” he asks after a second worth of hesitation, and she bites her lower lip.

“I don’t need you to walk me home,” she says with a frown, and relishes in how his mechanical eyes instantly widen at that.

“Oh no no no,” he says, and his voice is definitely panicky now, “I know, I just…” He cuts himself, seeing her amused smirk, and then shakes his head with another chuckle. “You’re messing with me.”

“Come on, move your spider-butt, I don’t have all night,” she retorts, brushing past him as she heads towards home. She hears him chuckle again, and she hides her smile in her scarf when he scrambles behind her to catch up.

“I’ll just leave if there’s an emergency,” he informs her, skipping beside her, and she just nods at that, readjusting her hat over her ears while they wait to cross the street. It’s getting late, and it’s snowing more and more by the minute, so the streets are pretty much empty, but they still meet a few curious people along their way. Michelle isn’t sure how to react, but Spider-Man is apparently used to it. He fist bumps some of them, even agrees to a selfie – a dumb idea, in her opinion, because a selfie by a snowy night has all the chances to come out all blurry – but keeps every interaction short and polite, which she’s grateful for because she’s exhausted, and her feet are getting pretty cold now, despite her boots.

She asks him if he gets cold in his suit, and he tells her all about the heating system inside it. She admits it, she’s impressed, and she asks him all the questions she can think of while they walk. He seems more than happy to answer them, and before she realizes it they’re already standing in front of her apartment building.

She hesitates for a minute, not entirely sure what to do. Betty is probably home already, so offering him to come in might probably not be a good idea at all – unless she wants to be relentlessly teased by her roommate after he leaves, which she obviously doesn’t. He’s walked her all this way though, by a snowy night no less, so that would be the right thing to do now, wouldn’t it?

He answers her interrogations before she can even open her mouth though. “I’m gonna go now, it was really nice seeing you again,” he tells her kindly, playing with his hands as he does.

“I’ll see what I can do to have you meet the kids,” she says, smoothing her hands on the sides of her jeans. “Thanks for, you know, walking me home.”

“Anytime,” he nods, and his smile is obvious in his voice once again. “Maybe I could, I don’t know, drop by the hospital tomorrow, to help arrange something?”

“Sure.”

“Cool.”

“Okay,” she smiles, then bites her lip, looking down at her feet. She imagines for a second what would happen if he wasn’t a masked vigilante. She wonders what she would do, how she would interact with him, if this very moment would feel the same way it does right now, like that fleeting moment at the end of a date when you consider the idea of kissing the other person before you part ways. It’s ridiculous though. She can’t kiss him, she doesn’t know him. Plus he’s wearing a mask anyway, so _that_ ’s definitely not gonna happen. She’s being ridiculous again. “Bye then, have a good night.”

“Have a good night too, Dr Jones.”

She rolls her eyes at that, and it makes him chuckle again. She walks up the stairs, waving him off, and he waves back, before leaping up and landing effortlessly on top of a streetlamp. “Show off,” she scoffs under her breath, and crosses the ‘enhanced hearing’ on her ‘Spider-Man’s abilities’ mental list when she hears him laugh openly at that. She opens the building’s door, turning to watch him swing away, biting down her smile.

She thinks she probably shouldn’t feel this happy at the idea of seeing him again tomorrow, but she definitely does.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for your amazing support on this fic, you guys are the best!!! :D Just know that every comment, kudos, subscription, bookmark and hit is deeply appreciated ♥
> 
> I don't know when I'll be able to write again, hopefully soon! :D I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I'll see you guys next time ♥

**Author's Note:**

> Come and say hi to me on Tumblr @eowima :D


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